Ice Cold Lullaby
by KelsieLorraine
Summary: Everyone assumed that Damon died at the tender age of eight when he disappeared within the depths of the pitch black lake water at summer camp. They were wrong, everyone was wrong. He's still there, sitting, and waiting to take revenge on those who wronged him. "Close your eyes and count to two, Damon Salvatore is waiting for you." Dark and Possessive Damon! DELENA!Sucky summary :/
1. Prologue

I know! Another story! I've discovered that if I am working on multiple stories, then I never get bored and/or give up because I have different things going on in different chapters. This story is a bit different; it is going to be very dark, with lots of language and gore. Enjoy (:

Also, this story was inspired by Friday the 13th

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Synopsis: Everyone assumed that Damon died at the tender age of eight when he disappeared within the depths of the pitch black lake water at summer camp. They were wrong, everyone was wrong. He's still there, sitting, and waiting to take revenge on those who wronged him. "Close your eyes and count to two, Damn Salvatore is waiting for you"

Disclaimer: I own nothing unfortunately.

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_"People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children."_

_-Calvin (From Calvin and Hobbes)_

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The water was freezing cold on that fateful day in May. You would think since it was the beginning of summer the water would be above freezing. Maybe it was because it was just the beginning of summer and the heat hadn't had a chance to warm the dark, ominous lake water, or maybe it was because Mother Nature knew that _that _day was going to be a sorrowful day, a day that no one expected to ever happen, _and an event that no one expected to take place_.

This day would be forever marked as a tragedy, a giant, catastrophe that sent shock throughout the entire town of Fells Church. _It's your fault; you should have been watching him._

No one knows what exactly happened that day at Camp Blackwater –named for the darkness of the lake water, even on the sunniest days the water was still pitch black. The kids all claimed that they didn't see what happen, in fear that they would get in trouble for what they did. The camp counselors weren't paying attention, they were too flirting, too busy making out, and too busy not watching _him_. _You should all pay; it's your entire fault. _

He was only a child, barely 8 years old. He had yet to live and the only experience of life he received was a cruel joke filled with parents that neglected him and children that teased and taunted him. _They will all pay. __**Every single one.**_

His father was in a board meeting; his mother was being a lush, drinking at a bar with her girlfriends. _"It's five o'clock somewhere,"_ she laughed, raising her glass in toast with the group of middle aged housewives she hung out with.

While she was drinking away, have a grand time, her child was dying, alone, in the darkest body of water in Virginia. Let's hope that drink was fucking worth it. _He was alone, __**all alone**__. They will all have to live with that. __**Forever.**_

His brother watched him disappear under the water. He was the one who ran for help, but he was too slow. His short legs and asthma slowed him down, but he put every ounce of energy his five year old body could muster up into getting help. _At least he tried to help. __**Tried.**_

"_Come quick!" _he cried, tugging on the sleeve of one of the preoccupied counselors.

"_Kid! What did I say about bothering us during grown up time? You should be outside playing!" _the counselor snapped. Her name was Kristie. She later dies in a horrific car wreck. Alone. _**All Alone.**_

"_But it's my brother! He can't swim and he's in the lake! You have to help him!" _the young boy cried hysterically. _You're wasting time. You were too busy being a whore on the clock that you let a young child die. __**It's your fault.**_

The counselors ran as fast as they could. The panic truly set in when they saw the kids huddled on the dock crying. _You're too late. If only you'd come sooner. If only you did your job._

One of the counselors jumped into the murky water, looking for any sign of the lost child. His efforts were pointless, borderline silly. Nothing could be seen in the water. No movement, no nothing. The child was gone. _**Gone.**_

It didn't take long for the police to get there. Questions were asked, tears were shed, and by the end of it all, nothing had changed. Nothing except a child was dead and at the bottom of the lake, because no one could be bothered to do their fucking jobs. _Was it worth it? The flirting? The Sex? Was it worth the life of a child? __**Child…an innocent child.**_

"_Over the next few days we will drag the lake, but there is no guarantee we will find him. I am very sorry,"_ the sheriff said to the woman crying violently into her husband's shoulder.

He's having an affair, she's a lush that is drunk more times than not. Neither of them paid any attention to their children. Now that one of them was dead, gone, never to breathe another breath of air, they all of a sudden cared?

The younger child pulled out of his parents grasp. Even at the tender age of five he knew it wasn't right, he knew they were just keeping up appearances for their reputation. He refused to be a pawn in their game.

Days went by and the lake was dragged and dragged again, but nothing was found and nothing would ever be found. _**Ever.**_

A coffin was buried. A coffin filled with some of his favorite things. They were given credit for having a very sentimental funeral for their lost child, when in truth, the five year old was the one who picked out his older brother's favorite things because their parents knew that little about them.

After the funeral, false promises were made. _"Things are going to be different", "We will spend more time together", _and _"We will be a family". __**Bullshit.**_

The young boy never really listened or believed the false promises, with good reason. Nothing changed. _**Nothing**_.

He stopped hearing the lies when he was 15 and he packed his stuff and left. He wouldn't see the strangers that called themselves his parents for years.

As the years drifted by Camp Blackwater remained closed and the haunting story of the little boy remained fresh.

Camp Blackwater…Camp Bloodwater. _**Blood.**_

No one dared speak the child name; it was like he was the boogieman, even though it had been years since he died. The people were simple minded. They honestly believed that if they didn't speak that child's name, then it was like it never happened. **Idiots.**

But that was okay. In fact everything was okay, because _he_ is watching _**you.**_

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I hope everyone enjoyed this. It's something new and in a writing style I've never really used. Review and let me know what you think.

Follow me and my stories on twitter/tumblr:

Twitter: KelsieLorraine

Tumblr: ElenaGilbertWarriorQueen


	2. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone that followed/favorite/reviewed this story. It really means a lot to me.

Second, I am playing story by ear, nothing is really set in stone future events wise. I'm just letting my fingers do the writing. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

Third, I am too exhausted to edit this, so please forgive any errors.

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Disclaimer: I own nothing unfortunately

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_"I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant."_

_-Isoroku Yamamoto_

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Teenagers are idiots, immature, egotistical idiots. Most of them are anyway. It is a very rare occurrence that you meet a teenager that isn't dumb as a sack of bricks. Teenagers are very rash in their decisions. They act without fully thinking things through, and because they are still technically "kids" and they "don't know any better" they get away with it. Karma's a bitch though, and she always comes around.

Mason Lockwood was one of the most egotistical assholes in Mystic Falls, Virginia. He is your typical, all American airhead football player. He graduated High School with a full paid scholarship to play football for Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana. He was all muscle, not an ounce of brain activity existed in his head. He passed his classes in High School solely for the purpose that everyone knew he would become a pro football player and put Mystic Falls on the map.

In addition to being what everyone considered "a football God" he is from one of the founding families of Mystic Falls. Being part of a founding family is like royalty in the small, almost invisible town in Virginia. The Lockwood's were extremely wealthy, and extremely powerful. All of this together gave Mason a sense of invincibility, a trait that was sure to get him killed.

Mason's other half almost made up for his idiocy. _Almost._ Elena Gilbert was the rare occurrence. Even as a child, her maturity level was exceedingly high as well as her IQ score. Elena also graduated with a full paid scholarship to study Biochemistry at Norte Dame. When she was ten her fourth grade teacher noticed something different about her, something special, and after talking to her parents, she was given an IQ test.

She scored a 170 on her IQ test which sent the town into a frenzy. They had a genius within their mix. She could have skipped half of her schooling with an IQ that high, but her parents didn't want their child to have to grow up that fast. They decided, as a family, that she would skip two grades so she wouldn't be surrounded by people 8 plus years older than her. She would be able to fit in more.

She was 14 and Mason was 16 when they started dating. They were both sophomores in high school. It started out as a simply, friendly date to homecoming. By the end of the night they were deemed Mystic Falls High "it" couple. Mason, who was a complete ass to everyone, was different with her. He was gentle, caring. He showed her a side that no one thought existed.

His behavior with her was one of the things that caused her to fall in love with him. Once they graduated high school and made plans to go to Notre Dame together, their families began to discuss wedding plans. Mason had yet to pop the question, but he was itching to do it. He was trying to wait until they both were closer to graduating. Now here they were, the summer before their senior year in college. Elena was 20; going on 21, and Mason had just turned 23.

They were on their way to Mason's Lake house for the weekend. A weekend that was sure to be filled with drinking, drugs, and sex. _And death…_

"That's the gas station Jules said to meet at," Elena said pointing at a very run down gas station. It was the first sight of civilization that they've seen for over an hour.

"That shit looks fucking disgusting. We're probably going to get diseases from just breathing the air," Mason scoffed.

"We should have stopped at the gas station before we left Mystic Falls," Elena stated.

"Clearly. Alright, let's get this shit over with. Do you have the list of supplies we need?"

"Yeah, in my pocket," Elena pulled the list out of her pocket and skimmed over it.

"I'll get the gas, you get the supplies and then we'll wait for Jules, Brady, Stevie, and whoever else is coming."

"Okay," Elena nodded as she continued to skim over the list. When Mason stopped near the gas pumps, Elena opened the door to get out but was pulled back by Mason. "Wha-" she began but was silenced with a kiss. She returned the kiss with passion.

"I love you," Mason mumbled against her lips.

"Mmm, I love you too," she returned before kissing him again.

"Whoa! People! Get a room!" A familiar voice called. Elena and Mason broke apart and turned to see Brady standing in the back of the truck parked behind them.

"Cock block," Mason yelled with a laugh.

"If I have to wait till the lake house, then so do you fucker," Brady called back followed by a groan from being hit by Jules, who was also in the back of the truck.

"I'm going to get the supplies," Elena announced before kissing Mason chastely on the lips.

"Here take the credit card. Tell them to put 70 on pump two so I can fill up the jeep and the gas canes in the back." He stated handing her the credit card.

"Alright," Elena said before stepping out of the jeep and heading towards the store. Jules quickly caught up with her, looping their arms.

"So who all is coming to this shindig?" Brady asked.

"Uh…you, Jules, Elena, me, Stevie, and then Anna, Charlotte, and Luka said they would meet us at the house later tonight."

"Sounds like a full house baby! Man this weekend is going to rock; I am going to be so wasted, going to have a lot of sex."

"As long as you don't puke on the carpet you are free to do what you please. You're going to have to wash the sheets when you're done though, because I'm not touching them."

"I'm cool with that." Brady grinned, slapping Mason on the back.

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"Do you smell that?" Jules whispered to Elena as the gathered the supplies on the list. "It smells like someone up and died in here."

"Jules! They can hear you," Elena whispered.

"Like I give a fuck! I am never stopping at this Podunk gas station again. The cashier looks like she has every type of sexually transmitted disease in the book and probably some that haven't been discovered yet, the old man sitting out front is whistling through the holes where his teeth used to be, and I just feel dirty looking at this place," Jules exclaimed louder than she should.

"Will you just help me gather this stuff so we can get to the lake house," Elena sighed tossing a box of some sort of snack food in the basket.

"Fine, the faster we get this done, the faster we can get the fuck out of here. Let me see the list, we can split up."

The girls quickly grabbed everything they would need for the weekend before making their way up to the register. The cashier took her time ringing each item up causing both girls huff in annoyance.

"Any day now honey," Jules snapped. The girl just rolled her eyes.

"Also, can I get 70 dollars' worth of gas on pump two please?" Elena requested once the girl finished keying in their items.

"Your total is 121.58," the cashier mumbled. Elena quickly handed her the card and waited for it to process.

"I gotta say," Jules said suddenly. "Having a loaded boyfriend sounds really nice."

"Wow that wasn't shallow at all," Elena laughed.

"I regret nothing," the blonde shrugged.

"Where are y'all going?" the cashier asked suddenly.

"Why, you're not invited," Jules smiled mockingly.

"Jules! You don't have to be rude," Elena scolded. Jules grabbed several of the bags from the counter.

"Whatever, you want to make friends with the small town, red neck freak, be my guest," she mumbled sarcastically before heading back to the boys.

"Sorry about that," Elena mumbled. "We are going to my boyfriend's lake house. It's on the same lake as camp Blackwater."

Everything seemed to go quiet when she said the name and the cashier's face went pale. "Camp Bl-blackwater?" she stuttered.

"Yeah why? Are you okay, you look like you've seen a ghost?"

Before the cashier could reply, a hand slammed down on the counter in front of Elena causing her to jump. She looked up to see an older man, with grey hair and a long beard staring at her.

"Turn around," the man rasped.

"I'm sorry?" Elena's eye brows knitted together in confusion.

"Get out, get out while you can or none of you will make it out alive," the man warned frantically. Elena stepped away from him, slightly freaked. He grabbed her biceps and shook her slightly. "Camp Bloodwater will claim all you your souls! For heaven's sake leave! Go home! And never look back!" the man was yelling at this point.

"Hey!" Mason yelled. He quickly made his way in between them. "I suggest you back the fuck up," he hissed. The man made a move towards the couple but was quickly slammed into the counter by Brady and Stevie.

"You heard the man, back the fuck up!" Brady yelled.

"Are you okay?" Mason was looking Elena up and down to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"Yeah, just spooked. Can we please go?" Elena pleaded.

"Yeah, Stevie grab the rest of the bags please. We're leaving." Mason guided Elena out of the store, Jules was by their side.

"That's why you don't befriend the locals 'Lena," she said simply.

"Jules?"

"Yeah Mas?"

"Shut the fuck up," The group quickly loaded up the supplies and filled the gas tanks. None of them dared turn and look at the store or at the people that were blatantly staring at them through the window.

"Everybody ready?" Mason questioned.

"Yeah baby! Let's get this weekend started!" Brady yelled.

"Alright let's go. Babe, you still have my card?"

"Oh! Yes, sorry." Elena handed Mason his credit card before buckling up.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked softly.

"I will be as soon as we leave this place. Thank you for coming to my rescue, my knight in shining armor," she teased.

"I will always rescue you," Mason laughed, kissing her cheek.

The parade of college students began driving towards the lake house under the impression they were in for the best weekend of their lives. They were wrong. So very wrong.

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"Damn Lockwood, I didn't think you could be any richer, but _damn!_" Stevie exclaimed.

"What? You knew my family had a lake house," Mason shrugged while setting some bags down on the floor.

"You said Lake House, not Lake Mansion," Brady chimed in. Mason just shrugged again.

"Brady, Stevie, feel free to help unload," Jules snapped.

"I'd rather watch you do it," Brady said suggestively.

"Yeah well if you plan on getting any, I suggest you help."

"Damn dude," Stevie laughed. "She got you." Brady pushed Stevie, causing him to laugh harder.

"Shut the fuck up and come help."

"Alright the house only has five bed rooms. Elena and I will share one, Jules and Brady will share one, and the rest of you will duke it out once the others get here. Someone will have to sleep on the couch," Mason explained.

"Well I for one think since the others are late that I should automatically get a room. I'm just saying," Stevie responded.

"Personally I think Charlotte and Anna should get a room, I mean girls need privacy," Jules chimed in.

"Feel free to shut up Jules," Stevie snapped.

"She has a point," Brady smirked.

"Seriously? Ass hole,"

"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend Stevie, you're a total tool," Mason laughed. "Charlotte and Anna will get their own rooms, you and Luka will fight over the remaining room," Mason's tone left no room for argument.

"This is so unfair," Stevie huffed heading outside to grab stuff from the truck.

"Our room is going to be upstairs, last one on the right," Mason whispered to Elena.

"Okay, I'll start bringing some stuff up." Mason kissed her temple before nodding and heading outside.

The sun began to set right as the group finished unloading the luggage and supplies from the cars into the lake house. As the skies grew darker, almost every light in the house was flipped on sending out an illuminating glow that reflected on the lake. It was almost 7 pm and everyone was sitting in the living room relaxing after a long day of traveling.

"So…what now?" Stevie asked suddenly.

"Shut up and drink," Brady said happily lifting his beer in the air, gesturing a toast.

"Why don't we tell stories," Jules suggested.

"That's better than just sitting around, drinking quietly," Stevie shrugged taking a sip of his beer and leaning back in the chair he was in.

"Alright I got one for you," Mason said. "Do you guys know why the camp a little ways down the lake has been closed?" He asked. He and Elena were sitting on the love seat in front of the big glass window. His arm was wrapped around her tiny waist, holding her close.

"Does it have something to do with the reason why it's called Camp Bloodwater?" Elena asked.

"Camp what?" Jules' asked.

"Camp Bloodwater," Mason addressed. "And yes it does. About 22 years ago the camp was thriving. It was deemed on of the best summer camps in all of Virginia. About 22 years ago, in the summer of 1991, an incident took place, an incident that no one was prepared for, which caused the camp to close and sent a shock wave throughout the town of Fell's church…" Mason explained mysteriously.

"Well?" Brady asked impatiently. "What was it?"

"There was this kid, a little boy. He was about 8. People say he was disfigured from a wreck he was in when he was a toddler. He had a big scar that went from the corner of his eye to the middle of his cheek, and he had burn scars up and down his torso. The kids would tease and taunt him because of the scars and from what I've heard, his parents were pretty shitty.

One day the kids were outside playing while counselors had what they considered "grown up time" which, in simple terms, meant they were having an orgy in one of the cabins. The kids cornered the boy on the lake and began teasing him. No one really knows what went down because none of the kids would talk about it. The police suspected foul play but had no proof of it.

You see the little boy couldn't swim well, but he ended up in the lake. His little brother ran for help but by the time the counselors got there, it was too late. The boy had disappeared under the black water. One of the counselors dived in to find him, but it was nearly impossible to see in the water. The police dragged the lake for day, but didn't find the body. It was like he disappeared." Everyone was so caught up in the story that no one noticed the movement outside of the window.

"They say he is still around here, the boy. They say he somehow got out of the lake and has been sitting and waiting to get his revenge, not just on those who harmed him in the past, but to those who dare set foot in the camp or the surrounding area. Like this lake house."

"What was his name?" Jules asked quietly.

"You know, I don't actually know," just then a popped up in front of the window, banging on it loudly causing everyone to jump.

"Mother fucker," Brady yelled.

"Oh man! You should have seen your faces!" Luka laughed, as he walked into the house. Anna and Charlotte were close behind him. "So worth it!"

"I bet it won't be worth it after I punch your face in," Brady threatened.

"Calm down, your just mad that he got you good," Mason said.

"I wasn't scared," Brady lied.

"Yeah whatever," Luka laughed. "So where is my room?"

"You and Stevie have to fight over the last room. Looser parks it on the couch. I don't care what you do; just don't make a lot of noise. We're going to bed." Mason explained patting Luka on the back. He grabbed Elena's hand and the couple headed up stairs.

The last thing they heard before they shut the bedroom door was Stevie say "Alright let's arm wrestle.

"Are you tired?" Elena asked pulling off her shirt.

"Nope, you?" Mason smiled at her, his eyes wondering over her now exposed chest.

"Not at all," she flirted, dropping her shirt on the floor.

"I'm glad we're at an understand," Mason mumbled wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her deeply.

"Mmhmm," she mumbled into the kiss.

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"It's almost 10 p.m. Brandon. I am ready to get home to my wife, what the hell is the hold up?" Stefan snapped.

"I'm sorry sir, I'm almost done," Brandon stuttered quickly.

"Well hurry up or you'll be looking for a new job," Stefan slammed his office door and ran his fingers through his hair stressfully. He hated being in charge, absolutely despised being the boss of a section within a large cooperation, but it paid the bills and it allow his wife and himself to live a comfortable life style.

After he left home when he was 15, he had maybe 10 dollars and a stick of gum in his pocket. He wasn't sure how he survived two months with no money or resources, but he did. He met David Pierce when he was about to turn 16 and for some unknown reason he took pity on the young boy. He hired him to help around the house, tending to the lawn work, keeping the pool up to par, et cetera and in return he was offered a room that was attached to the shed and three meals a day.

Stefan proved himself over the years, not only as a worker, but as a student. Once he was settled he found a way to finish high school and even attempted to apply to several technical colleges.

David respected his motivation and determination. He told Stefan if he finished college than there would be a job for him at David's multi-million dollar cooperation. Stefan strived for greatness, passing all his college classes with A's. He was going to prove himself. The words his parents said to him the day he left always stuck with him, giving him the strength he needed.

"_You'll never make it on your own,"_

"_You're a foolish boy to think you can survive without us,"_

"_You'll be crawling back on your knees in a week tops,"_

He absolutely refused to let their words become true. He would not fail, and he would not go crawling back.

During his journey, not only did he make a name for himself, he also found love with David's daughter Katherine. She was beautiful. The moment he first laid eyes upon her, she snatched his breath away. She had lushes golden locks that rested in the middle of her back, crystal blue eyes that made you feel like you were starting into the clearest swimming pool in the world, and pale, baby soft skin that looked so delicate you would think it would crack from too much sun.

For some miraculous reason she fell for him too. Once Stefan was out of college and had a job at her father's cooperation, he asked for her hand in marriage. David was happy to give his blessing for Stefan was already like a son to him.

Now 6 years later he was happily married and was recently promoted, again, in the company. Several workers thought he received so many promotions because he was married to the CEO's daughter, but the real reason was that he was smart. His skills were valuable, he learned quickly, and he earned everything he received.

Even if he hated the job, it made his wife happy, which made him happy, because once the work day was over; she is what he saw when he arrived home. Today was a particularly bad day. It was Friday. Normally on Friday's Stefan was gone by 4 p.m. but on this particular Friday, one of the new employees accidentally erased the files that he had previously typed up. Stefan was livid.

It took a full hour for the computer tech guy to say "those files are long gone, might want to start typing them up again." A complete hour wasted, fucking moron.

Stefan was at his desk checking his email when there was a knock at his door. "Um sir?" Brandon poked his head into the office.

"I hope you are about to tell me you are finished. If not, I don't want to hear it," Stefan said sharply without looking up from his computer.

"Sir, the police are here to speak with you," Brandon said quietly. Stefan looked up from his computer in alarm. Brandon pushed the door open to reveal to detectives.

"Mr. Salvatore, I am Detective Morris. We have a few questions to ask you," the detective said seriously making his way into the office with his partner.

"I need you to tell us what happened with your brother at Camp Blackwater 22 years ago."

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For those of you who don't know Fell's Church was the name of the town in the books. They changed it to Mystic Falls. For story purposes I decided to use both towns.

Follow me and my stories on twitter/tumblr (I'd be happy to answer any questions and give away tiny spoilers):

Twitter:KelsieLorraine

Tumblr:ElenaGilbertWarriorQueen


	3. Chapter 2

Hey guys! So sorry for the long wait. With finals and everything I took a mini hiatus, but finals are done and I have a few days before summer classes start so I will try and update all of my stories!

I did indeed pass all my finals and am now officially a senior in college! Whoo! Time sure does pass quickly.

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

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Disclaimer: I own nothing unfortunately

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_"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."_

_-Friedrich Nietzsche_

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"_Mommy? Can you help me?" the young, blue eyed boy asked hopeful, staring at his mother. His angry red scar seemed to glare at the woman. She huffed in disgust and turned away from the boy, unable to look at him._

"_I'm busy," she stated shortly. Their family was an image of perfection of Fell's Church. They owned everything in town. When they were in public they were meant to be perfect, to look perfect. They were no longer able to do that with a deformed child. __**What kind of mother hates their child just because of a deformity that they had no control over?**_

"_But-" he started to protest quietly._

"_Damon," his mother snapped. " .busy. Go to your room and don't come out until I come and get you."_

_Slowly, dejected, the young child climbed up the stairs and to his room where he sat all night. His mother never came for him, not even for supper._

His anger was on overload. For years he was left alone in peace, not one single soul dared come into his personal domain. _Years_. And now it was invaded by a group of loud and obnoxious young adults. All he saw was red. His hands curled into fist and his entire body was shaking in rage.

He was going to _kill_ them. Slowly. He would pick them off, one by one, and slowly take each of them apart. He was blood thirty. So much so that he could almost feel their blood on his hands, the sticky but smooth substances that would soon be everywhere. _**It will rain blood.**_

He smiled a cruel smile; his hard, cold crystal blue eyes watched their every move. Their laughs would soon turn into screams. His anger was replaced by excitement, by joy as he imagined the fear in their eyes as he killed them.

He remained in the trees, hidden from sight. Tonight they will _**beg**_. Tonight they will _**cry**_. Tonight they will _**die**_.

"Stevie you look like shit bro!" Luka laughed.

"Yeah well I had to sleep on the fucking sofa while you idiots slept in nice, big warm beds. Not to mention Jules and Brady were louder than a thunder storm last night," Stevie spat glaring at everyone.

"Don't be jealous just because you can't get laid dude," Brady shrugged sipping on a beer while reclining on a lawn chair.

"I can get laid douche." Stevie snapped.

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt," Jules threw in.

"Whatever! You all suck," he mumbled turning and heading back towards the house.

"Where are you going?" Anna asked.

"Exploring," he shrugged not turning around.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Charlotte asked nervously. Stevie rolled his eyes.

"Stop being paranoid Charlotte. There is nothing out there but trees and grass." Stevie grabbed the supplies he needed and headed out into the woods. Mason and Elena stepped out of the lake house just as Stevie arrived at the edge of the forest.

"Hey where are you going?" Mason yelled at him. Elena stood next to him, her hand firmly clasped in his.

"Exploring! I'll be back later," Stevie yelled without turning around. _**He'd be back in pieces.**_

"Don't get lost, because I won't be the one to come find your ass!" Mason laughed as he tugged Elena down the steps that led to the beach.

The predator's eyes gleamed in joy as he watched one of the idiots break apart from the others. _Looks like I won't have to wait until nightfall_ he thought sadistically.

In truth, by the time nightfall came, every single one of their lives would be changed drastically. _**Every single one.**_

Quickly and quietly the man disappeared further into the woods. He had to prepare. The skies will rain blood tonight.

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"About time the two of you made your presence known!" Brady yelled from his chair.

"Late night?" Jules winked at the couple.

"Like you two have room to talk," Mason retorted. "I'm pretty sure the entire house heard you two last night." Jules blushed while Brady just shrugged, clearly not minding that everyone heard them.

"So what's the plan for today?" Anna asked. Anna, like Elena, was extremely smart and her life was run by OCD. She always needed a plan, organized to the smallest detail, even if she was on vacation.

"Relax?" Luka said more as a question then a statement. "Why does there need to be a plan?"

"Why not?" Anna countered.

"I don't care what any of you do as long as no damage comes to the property. Swim, drink, sleep, explore, I don't care." Mason stated, quickly putting an end to the fight that was about to break out.

"So what we going to do?" Elena smiled suggestively at Mason. Without another word Mason grabbed her by the waist and carried her to the edge of the dock before jumping in the water. Elena let out a squeal of surprise before she was submerged under water.

* * *

"Shit, fuck, goddammit!" Stevie swore as he tripped over a hidden vine. "Stupid nature..." he mumbled to himself as he continued to aimlessly trudge through the forest. The sun was beginning to set and Stevie was lost. Very lost. "I swear I'm walking in circles," he mumbled pulling out his cell phone. "No service, of course. Just my fucking luck."

The further Stevie wondered into the woods, the closer to death he got. Of course he didn't know it, but everywhere he went, eyes followed. The owner of those eyes was simply watching and waiting, biding his time, relishing in the imminent death. A small smirk of satisfaction settled on his face as he watched the young idiot try to make his way through _his_ domain.

He grew up in these woods. He knows them like the back of his hand, every twist and every turn. He definitely had an advantage. He knew the kid was going to run like hell once he laid eyes on him, and he also knew that the kid's efforts would be in vain. There is no way he could escape the monsters grasp. No way.

"Thank fuck," Stevie sighed as he neared what seemed to be a clearing. Thankfully the sun was just beginning to set, so it wasn't completely dark yet. Stevie let his eyes wonder around the tiny, circular shaped clearing. There wasn't much in the clearing except a tiny shed.

Stevie circled the shed, looking for a house nearby. "Why the fuck would there be a shed in the middle of the forest…" he mumbled as he continued to look for a house nearby. "Maybe it is actually a house…" he wondered aloud causing the monster to smile at his stupidity.

Stevie slowly pushed the door of the shed open. "Nope, not a house," he noted as he looked around the shed. It was tiny and dark, but he could make the shapes of objects hanging on the wall. There was a tiny window on the opposite wall of the door that let a small ounce of light in, but not enough to see the objects clearly.

Curiously Stevie slipped into the shed and began to inspect the objects. "The fuck?" he whispered as he touched one of them. It was metal, sharp, and had some sort of dark, dried substance on it.

Stevie pulled it off the wall and heading outside with it, curious as to what was on it. "Jesus fuck!" he exclaimed throwing the knife down and stepping away from it as if it would bite him. "Fucking bloody knives in seemingly abandon sheds, no thank you." He mumbled hurrying away from the area before the owner of it showed up.

Stevie was almost to the edge of the clearing when something caused him to turn around. It was then that every hair on his body stood up, it was then that his heart started working overtime and his hands became sweaty and shaky. There, standing a few feet from the shed was a man dressed in all black, staring at him. His face wasn't visible, due to the hockey mask he was wearing, but the machete in his hands was visible.

"Fuck me," Stevie screamed turning to run. He quickly disappeared into the trees, running as fast as he could. Every twist and turn he took he felt himself getting further away, but ever instinct on his body told him that the man was closer than he thought.

The monster smiled in glee as he watched the young man running for his life. He knew exactly where he would end up. He was a predator and the excitement he got from hunting his prey was always the best part. He would have let him "get away" longer if it wasn't for the seven other idiots he planned on maiming and ripping apart. There would be plenty of hunting tonight.

Stevie finally stopped running after what seemed to be forever. His heart was racing, he was covered in sweat, and he could barely breathe. He took so many twists and turns he was probably even further away from the lake house than he was before the psycho with a machete showed up.

Stevie dropped his back pack on the ground and pulled off his shirt. It was hot as fuck and the last thing he needed was to pass out with a freak on the loose. He continued walking forward in hopes that he would find something, anything that told him where he was or where the house was.

He pulled out his phone and began fiddling with it, hoping to get some sort of service. He was so caught up that he didn't notice where he ended up until he lifted he head. "What?" he whispered as he looked around the same clearing that he was just in. "That's not possible…"

Before he could comprehend anything else, there was a rustling behind him before the machete landed on his shoulder, successfully disconnecting his arm from the rest of his body.

"Ah fuck!" he screamed as he stumbled onto the ground, gripping the bloody stump. "What the fuck man?" he screamed attempting, and failing, to crawl away. The masked man just continued to tower over him. The man's mouth wasn't visible, but you could tell by the gleam in his eyes. He was smiling.

The man lifted the machete in the air. "Please god, don't do this…" Stevie cried. _**God can't help you now**_. The man didn't hesitate; he just smiled wider as he swung the machete at the cowering man.

* * *

"It's getting really late, maybe we should go look for Stevie," Anna suggested.

"Fuck that little prick," Brady scoffed. "He's a big boy."

"It's getting late, the sun is almost down," Charlotte mumbled. "He might be lost, these woods are pretty thick."

"No one asked you schizo," Brady snapped.

"Hey! Back the hell off," Luka said stepping in front of Charlotte. Brady bowed up to him, their stances were tense.

"What are you going to do about it?" Brady's fist bawled up, preparing to swing.

"I am going to crack your head into the floor. You don't talk to a lady that way."

"That crazy bitch isn't a lady and I dare you to make a move. It will give me the perfect reason to beat you to a bloody pulse."

"I'd like to see you try white boy." In their heated argument their bodies grew closer and closer.

"Hey!" Mason yelled appearing at the top of the stairs. "You both need to calm the hell down because if a single punch is thrown, you best bet that both your asses will be on the way back to Mystic Falls."

Begrudgingly both men stepped away from each other. "Now, Charlotte and Anna are right. If the sun goes down, Stevie has very little chance of making it back tonight. The woods are like a maze, especially in the dark. We need to go search for him."

"And what is to stop us from getting lost?" Brady rolled his eyes and looked at Mason, waiting for his answer.

"Flashlights and mini flag markers to mark our way, we can start now, split up, each person mark a tree or a bush that they pass every once in a while so when it is time to head back, you have a trail to follow. It is best to go now while there is a little bit of sun light left so grab what you need, I will get the markers and the flash lights."

"When I find Stevie, I am going to beat the shit out of that little butt monkey," Brady growled.

The six of them grabbed a few things and headed out into the woods, each in a different direction. None of them realizing what they walking into, none of them realized that death was stalking them.

_Close your eyes and count to two, Damon Salvatore is waiting for __**you**__…_

Mason wasn't kidding when he said the forest was like a maze. If it wasn't for the flag markers, every single one of them would be lost by now.

The sun continued to disappear, slowly, yet fast at the same time. The forest was eerily quiet, not a rustle or a sound from any of the animals. It was as if they went into hiding.

"Stevie?" Elena called softly as she pinned another marker on a passing tree. She felt a chill run up her spine, as if someone was watching her. She took a few more steps forward and stopped to listen. She was met with silence, even the crickets were silent.

_Take a breath and count three, four, Damon Salvatore is here for __**more…**_

The trees began to thin out a bit, allowing the moon light to shine. The path Elena was on became a little more visible. She could see a clearing a few more steps ahead of her. Sighing in relief, she began to make her way towards the clearing. _Don't sigh in relief little girl, for your death awaits you in the clearing._

_Don't forget five and six, your time has come, you're out of __**tricks…**_

Elena stood still for a moment, taking in her settings. It was still hard to see but the light from the moon helped a little bit. She looked around and other than what looked to be a shed, the clearing was empty.

She was about to turn and head back to the lake house when she heard it. She had been searching for nearly an hour and there had yet to be a sound from anything in the woods, until now. She could hear rustling coming from behind her.

Every one of her senses was on high alert then. She turned to face whatever was coming up behind her, but was met with nothing but darkness. The rustling was gone and the eerie silence once again fell upon the darkened trees. It was different from before though. The atmosphere was tense, almost angry.

Elena continued to look for the source of the rustling. She remained quiet and tried to remain calm. She didn't want to make a lot of noise because she knew that would be the stupidest thing she could do. She wouldn't be one of those idiots that called out to whatever was out there loudly.

_After seven and eight, you've sealed your __**fate…**_

Elena didn't realize she was backing up until she tripped on something. The flash light that was in her hand was now ten feet away from her. She dusted off her legs quickly realizing that they were now drenched in some sort of wet substance.

_What the fuck did I trip over?_ She wondered as she patted the ground in front of her. Everywhere she touched was wet; she was in a puddle of something. Little did she know what the puddle consisted of.

She finally found what tripped her. _What the fuck?_ She thought as she picked it up. It was a little warm, but the warmth was quickly fading away. Elena's stomach churned and her eyes widened as she realized what she was holding.

A human arm.

_At nine and ten death comes __**again…**_

* * *

What did everyone think? I had help with the rhyme from one of my awesome friends Paul. It is set to the tune of the Nightmare on Elm Street rhyme.

As always please review!

As always thanks for reading and follow my stories and myself on twitter/tumblr:

Twitter: KelsieLorraine

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	4. Chapter 3

_"A lot of life is dealing with your curse, dealing with the cards you were given that aren't so nice. Does it make you into a monster, or can you temper it in some way, or accept it and go in some other direction?"_

_-Wes Craven_

* * *

Elena froze. Her heart began to race, her vision became blurry, and the ringing in her ears became prominent. She threw the arm down with a fearful shrieked and scooted backwards as fast as she could. She could feel it, the moment the air shifted. She could feel the presence of another person in the clearing.

She couldn't see his face, just his dark form. He was standing about 30 feet from her, the machete clear as day in his hand. He began to stalk towards her. She began backing away faster. The tears began rushing down her face; panic began to rise within her.

"Oh god please," she cried. He caught up with her quickly, raising the machete as to strike down and kill her. He froze. The machete still high in the air.

Everything was still for a moment as she stared at the unknown man and as he stared at her. The arm holding the machete lowered, giving her enough time to react. She jumped to her feet and took off in the direction she came. She tried to listen, to see if he was following her, but all she heard was her own cries.

The man, the monster, remained in the clearing. He made no move to follow, to shell shocked. He had killed before, never once hesitating. He found join in claiming the lives of those who wronged him, so why did he hesitate with this mere girl? She was just another one of them, partying in _his_ territory. He should want to rip her apart like he did with the others, and yet, he couldn't find it within himself to harm her.

He saw her, clear as day even though the sun was completely gone and the clearing was pitch-black. Her face was burned into his mind. She was beautiful; she literally took his breath away. He was agitated. He wasn't supposed to feel this way. He had to shake it off; there was work to be done. There was no doubt that she would tell her friends what happened and together they would all come to the clearing looking for the boy he had cut into pieces.

Hesitating worked out in his favor. They would all be in the same place at the same time. He would kill them all and everything would be right again. A sadistic smile spread across his covered face as he began to prepare.

* * *

"I am going to beat the hell out of that little bastard," Brady hissed as he plopped down on the couch.

"Who's to say he is playing a joke Brady?" Anna snapped. "He might be hurt!"

"Oh bullshit! I know Stevie better than any of you and I know when he gets mad, he does something like this. He disappears and concocts some stupid scheme or prank to get revenge. So don't try to butt into this claiming he's hurt!" Brady snapped, his grip on the flashlight tightened and his knuckles turned white.

"Brady's right," Mason interjected. "There is nothing in these woods that could hurt Stevie. He's probably just blowing off steam. He will be back. For the meantime, everyone just needs to take a breather." He instructed.

Before anyone could say anything else, Elena burst through the door, startling them. "Oh my god!" Anna exclaimed.

"What the fuck?!" Luka screamed. Everyone jumped up from their seats, taking in the sight before them. Elena was covered in blood and shaking uncontrollably. Her face what sheet white and wet with tears.

"Elena, baby, what happened?" Mason face showed nothing but sheer horror. Slowly he pulled Elena in her arms and rubbed her back gently as he tried to calm her.

"St-stevie's d-de-dead," She stuttered. "T-there was so much bl-blood. I t-tried to get up, b-but the blood was everywhere. I found his arm, oh g-god! Th-there was a man, h-he tried to k-k-kill me." Elena cried.

It took everyone a split second before they reacted. The girls huddled around Elena as the boys began to grab weapons.

"Did you see his face?" Mason asked as he handed Brady a shot gun.

"No, he had a mask of some sort on," she whispered.

"Are you sure Stevie is dead?" Luka asked as he put ammo in his gun.

"I-I don't know," she whimpered. Jules rubbed her back, quietly shushing her.

"You don't know?" Brady snapped. "How the fuck do you not know!"

"Hey! Do not fucking speak to her like that!" Mason yelled angrily. Brady's eyes went wide. In all the years Brady has known Mason, Mason has never really lost his cool. Mason pulled Elena in his arm, holding her close. "We are going to try and find him. You girls stay here-"

"What? No way in hell am I staying here with a psycho killer on the loose!" Jules said frantically. We will be safer with you boys!" Mason's jaw clenched together in anger, his hands balled up into tight fist.

"She has a point Mas," Brady said quietly, not wanting to upset him even more. "We should just stick together. For all we know there could be more than one of them and they could be trying to lure us away so they can strike at the girl."

"Fine," Mason grumbled. He turned to head back to the weapons cabinet, keeping Elena close to him. He gave Jules a small hand gun and the other two girl's decent sized hunting knives.

"What we don't get a gun?" Anna asked, slightly annoyed.

Mason narrowed his eyes. "That's the only one I have left. Now if you want to be picky I can put the knife up and you can just use your hands a defense," he snapped. Anna didn't say anything else. "That's what I thought. Now, we stick together. If you wonder off, you are on your own. We will not try to find you. Brady and I will lead the group, Luka you will keep look out in the back. Got it? Good. Let's go."

The group stuck close together as the unknowingly walked into their deaths. They came here to have fun, to enjoy the break from school. Instead of a relaxing vacation, they got a real life version of a scary movie based on their lives.

The woods were silent as they searched for the clearing. It didn't take them long to find it, thanks to the mini flags Elena put up earlier.

"What?" Elena whispered as everyone took in the sight of the clearing. Nothing was out of place, there was no man, there was no arm, and there was no blood.

"Is this the right clearing?" Mason asked her.

"I-yes. This can't be right. The puddle of blood was right there! Along with the arm and the man came from over there." Elena explained as she pointed everything out.

"Ha!" Brady laughed walking forward. "I knew it! Stevie you sick fuck, you better get your ass out here because believe me, if I have to find you, I am going to beat the shit out of you!" he yelled into the darkness. "I am really curious how you roped sweet, little Elena into playing along with your prank and where did all the fake blood come from?" he continued to yell.

"Shut up Brady!" Elena hissed. "It isn't a joke!" Brady turned his attention to Elena.

"Oh really? It isn't a joke? Then where is the blood?" he asked in a snarky, almost mockingly tone, as he lifted his arms to gesture to the empty clearing. "Where is the man? And the arm? This is all bullshit. You are helping Stevie pull a prank so you might as well drop the act, because sweetheart, you aren't convincing," He laughed.

In less than a second everything changed. Before anyone could move, a machete came flying down, slicing Brady from the point where his should and neck met all the way down to his hip. He looked up from the machete that was lodged in his body to the group of horror stuck people in front of him. He spit up blood before the machete was lifted and his body fell to the grown in two pieces.

Everyone stared at Brady's mauled body for a second before turning their attention to the dark figure responsible for his demise. The plan of sticking together quickly went out the window as everyone turned and ran a different direction. Screams and sobs could be heard ever where. The monster smiled as he took off after them.

Elena's heart began pumping faster than she thought possible as she found herself, once again, running for her life. She turned to see if she was being followed, but everything was too dark. With her attention behind her, she failed to notice the steep hill in front of her until it was too late.

"Oh fuck," she said. She lost her footing and tumbled down the hill violently. Her head hit a large rock at the end of the hill and loss consciousness.

It was then that Elena Gilbert's life changed. Her fate rested in the hands of someone else. The monster stood over her, staring at her unconscious form. He could leave her. By the morning she would be dead due to the temperature dropping extremely low in the light and the bleeding injury on her head or he could choose to save her.

He contemplated the decision as he studied her small form. Why should he save her? Who was she to him? He asked himself these questions but he didn't know the answers. All he knew was that she caused him to hesitate. He was going to strike her with the machete, but she stopped him. It wasn't her pleading or her tears that caused him to hesitate. It was the feeling he got when he looked at her and when she looked at him with her big brown doe eyes.

It was a feeling he had never felt before. The only word he could think of to describe it was warmth. He felt warmth around her. Why did she make him feel this way? Who was she? He was conflicted. Did he want to save her? Keep her in hell with him or did he want to let her die? End her the way he planned on ending the rest of her friends.

He wasn't used to being confused or conflicted. He never second guessed himself. His entire life he could only count on one person, himself. He raised himself, fed himself, made certain decisions to keep himself alive, and taught himself to fight. He had to learn survival of the fittest; he had to learn to be sneaky when he made trips to civilization to get what the necessities.

If he saved her, he would have to take care of her, feed her, cloth her, keep her injuries cleaned, and who knows what else. It won't just be him anymore. Was it worth it? The others will probably try to find her which means there was a possibility that he could get discovered. Was this one little girl worth the trouble she was sure to bring?

The monster contemplated. He didn't need to think about it though. He knew what is decision was. He knew from the beginning.

* * *

Luka slammed open the door and without hesitation, began packing his things. Jules and Anna appeared shortly after him and started to haul things to the cars. Mason was the last one to enter. The lights were out, leaving it almost pitch black inside the house.

"Seriously guys forget your shit and let's just go! We can come back once the police catch this fucker!" He yelled as he grabbed the keys and some extra ammo. "Where's Elena?"

"We thought she was with you," Anna replied.

"No! I thought she was with you. Fuck!" Mason yelled.

"Charlotte is missing too," Jules noted.

"Well we can't go looking for them, not with it being so dark and with that thing out there!" Luka cried hysterically.

"I'm not leaving my girlfriend out there!" Mason yelled, bowing up to Luka.

"What do you want us to do Mas? I can barely see my hand three inches from my face out there, trying to find a person, as dark as it is and as big as the woods are, it's damn near impossible!" Anna tried to reason.

"I can't leave her!"

"Mason, Elena is smart. She is probably just laying low. This used to be a camp so she is probably hiding in one of the old cabins until sunrise. We can leave and come back with the police before the sun rises and then we will find her," Jules offered. Mason's face didn't change, the thought of leaving Elena out there all night didn't sit well with him at all, but what else could he do.

"Alright, we need to hurry," Mason said as he headed outside. The other's followed closely.

"What about Charlotte?" Luka asked.

"For her sake, let's hope she is lying low too," Mason mumbled.

The cars were parked about 20 feet from the cabin. It was so dark that the remaining group of people didn't even notice the slashed tires and the open hoods until there were right next to the car.

"What the fuck?" Mason hissed. He lifted the semi-opened hood of his vehicle and stared at the inside in disbelief. "My fucking battery is gone!"

"Mine is too!" Luka and Jules both said.

"He knew we would try to leave! He planned this!" Anna cried. "When we were looking for the clearing earlier, he probably slipped over here and destroyed out only means of escape! The power is out and there is no phone service out here…oh god. We are stuck!" Anna was all but screaming at the end of her conclusion.

"Hey! You need to calm down and shut the fuck up or else he was hear us! All we have to do is hide until the morning and then we then we can get out of here." Mason said level headedly.

"Oh my god!" Jules shrieked, her attention on the figure approaching them. Charlotte was slowly walking towards them, blood all over her. She had a deep gash on her abdomen and blood was spilling out of the corner of her mouth.

She opened her mouth but the only thing that came out was a gurgled cry. Luka was first to react. He ran to her and gripped her biceps, supporting her. "You're okay!" he tried to reassure. "We will get you patched up and-"

"Ugh!" Charlotte cried out in pain as the machete that gave her the laceration sliced through her and into Luka's stomach. Luka looked down and then back up at Charlotte. The machete disappears as fast is appeared.

Jules and Anna screamed in horror as Luka and Charlotte's bodies fell to the ground. "Run!" Mason screamed.

It was instinct. The body can sense when danger is near and it kicks into over drive. As the night grew colder, the three remaining survivors ran in every direction possible.

As the sun began to rise, one of the three was struck down. _And then there were two…_ the monster laughed as he decided to call it a night and headed back to his home.

There was a cabin hidden amongst the trees. In the cabin there was a trap door in the middle of the floor. Under the trap door, there were underground tunnels. The tunnels had been there for decades, but in the last 22 years the monster turned the tunnels into a home, a shelter for him to survive. That is where the monster sleeps. He slipped into the tunnels and set his machete down, not bothering to wipe of the blood from his victims off.

One of the tunnels connected to a small, round, open space. _His bedroom._ The monster walked over to where the make shift pallet was in the open space. It was situated next to some bars, a make shift cell he made as a precaution. Slowly, he knelt down and ever so gently, he lifted his bloodied hand, and stroked the cheek of the young girl that fascinated him. She stirred slightly at his touch. The monster smiled at her reaction.

She was still asleep and she would probably remain that way for a while. The monster smiled. For 22 years he lived alone, rarely ever leaving the camp except for certain occasions. He wasn't alone anymore. The young girl had impacted him strongly and he didn't even know her name.

All he knew was that she was his and he was never letting her go. **Never.**

* * *

All three stories updated in two days, hot damn! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, I had fun writing it.

Fun fact, Brady's death was the first and only death I had planned. It came to me at the beginning of the story.

Reviews make my muse smile (:

Follow my stories and myself on twitter or tumblr:

Twitter: KelsieLorraine

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	5. Chapter 4

Surprise! A second update in one week! Hoorayy! (:

* * *

_"A constant struggle, a ceaseless battle to bring success from hopeless surroundings, is the price of living."_

_-Orison Marden_

* * *

Elena-_Italicized_

The Monster-**Bold**

* * *

_She couldn't see anything._

**He busied himself with cleaning up the bodies.**

_It was nothing but a blur. Everything. _

**He didn't want to think. He was working on auto pilot.**

_Sounds were muffled. What was going on? Where was she? Help…_

**The other two escaped. He wasn't worried. They wouldn't find anything. The monster knew how to hide.**

_She sensed something but was blind to what it was. Something was touching her lips. It was a warm liquid of some sort. It tasted like soup._

**The girl was sick. One the second day, her head injury developed an infection. The monster worried.**

_She didn't care what she had to do; she just wanted to make the pain stop._

**He found medical supplies in the cabin where the trespassers were staying, penicillin to fight off the infection, vicodin to treat the pain. **

_There was something in her arm. It was only there for a second, but it stung. She tried to pull away, but she couldn't move._

**He watched her while she slept. He wondered what she would be like when she woke up and realized what was going on.**

_Darkness. Fear. Pain. She tried to force her eyes open, to will herself awake. Her attempts were futile._

**He watched her struggle to wake up, fascinated that she had fight in her even half conscious. **

_She didn't have dreams, none that she could remember anyway. Just darkness…_

**He tried to think of his next move but all he could think about was the girl.**

_She was claustrophobic. She felt trapped. That gave her nightmares. Nightmares that she couldn't remember, but could feel._

**Her infection seemed to be gone, her cut was healing. He stopped giving her medicine. She would be awake soon.**

* * *

Elena jolted up in a panic. Her heart was racing, her head was spinning, and she was drenched in sweat. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. She was underground from what she could tell. She was sitting on a make shift pallet and her hand was cuffed to a rusted bar next to her.

She tried to break free, struggling and pulling at the handcuff that was keeping her trapped, but the only thing it did was cut into her wrist. No one was around, which she was grateful for. She could hear water dripping somewhere in the distance, but other than that, it was completely silent.

She could tell who ever lived here had been here a while. They had nested it seemed. There were stacks and stacks of books against one wall of dirt; there was a dresser against another wall, from one of the old cabins she guessed. There wasn't much furniture. Other than the pallet and the dresser there was an old chair and a bedside table.

On the bed side table there was a lamp and she briefly wonder how it had electricity until she saw the mess of extinction cords leading from the lamp, down one of the tunnels. If she could get free of the handcuff, it would be pretty easy to get out of the underground. She was sure the cords would lead her to whatever entrance or exit there was.

She knew there was only so much stuff kept in the cabins of the shutdown camp, which means whoever lived here would have had to make trips into civilization to get food and new clothes. That thought gave her a little comfort, maybe the closest town wasn't as far away as she originally thought. She could get out alive if only she could find something to break the handcuffs with.

It seemed silly that a little piece of metal was the only thing that kept her from her freedom. She continued to study her surroundings when she spotted several tiny glass bottles of some sort of clear medicine and some syringes. She vaguely remembered something sticking her in the arm. When she looked down, she noticed a small, tan bandage that she hadn't noticed a minute ago.

She had been injected with something. Her heart began to race. Had it ever stopped racing? She scooted as close as she could, trying to see what the medicine was. It was too far away to reach with her arm, no matter how much she stretched her arm out.

Huffing in anger, she turned awkwardly and tried to knock the medicine of the small table with her feet. It took a few tried, but she eventually kicked the table hard enough to knock the medicine off.

She studied the labels, not sure whether she should be scared or relieved. The two different medicines were Penicillin and Vicoden, if used correctly, they were a simple anti-biotic and pain killer. At least she wasn't doped up on something that could have been extremely harmful to her body.

Gently, she ran her fingers over the bandage on her forehead and began to think about what led her to where she was. Looking for Stevie, the arm and the puddle of blood, the mysterious killer with the machete, Brady being killed, running…fast, hard, left, right…turning around to look for the psycho, and finally tripping down the hill. Everything was black after that.

Who had saved her? Who had taken care of her? Treated her wound, her infection, and her pain?

She thought about Mason. She hoped that he was still alive. She thought about Anna, Jules, Charlotte, and Luka. The last she saw them, they were alive and running. She prayed they got away.

Maybe there was someone else that lived on the lake that they didn't know about. Maybe that person had found her unconscious and bleeding. It had to be that, it was the only thing that made sense. If Mason or one of her other friends had found her, she would have woken up in a hospital, instead of an underground cave.

It was possible that whoever found her was keeping her hidden until the killer was gone or dead. She needed answers, she would drive herself crazy with these 'if' 'why' and 'maybe' scenarios. As soon as her captor or savior made themselves known, she would get the answers she needed. She began to struggle with the handcuffs again, not caring if she hurt herself. She needed to get out, savior or not, she wanted to go home.

* * *

The monster made one more pass through the camp to make sure all trace of blood, violence, and murder were gone. It had taken him days, but he had gotten all the bodies together and dug a deep hole, deeper than the normal 6 feet, under one of the cabins and placed the bodies inside.

If the police showed up and looked under the cabin, they wouldn't see anything out of the norm. The hole was packed with dirt perfectly and from the typical eye, looked undisturbed. As a precaution the monster placed a couple of dead animal in different places under the cabin. By the time they brought in the dogs, the rotting bodies of the animals will hopefully throw them off.

Even if they did find the bodies, they would never find the monster. He slipped into the cabin where the group of idiots were staying and sorted through the recently packed pantry grabbing food and water. He searched the room until he found the one with the unconscious girls stuff in it. He didn't know how, but he knew it was her stuff. He grabbed the bag filled with her clothes and other necessities.

Once he had what he needed he slipped out of the cabin, leaving no traces that he was there other than the missing items which would be the last of everyone's concern. He made his way back to his home as the sun began to set. He was sure that the girl would be awake very soon, if she wasn't already awake. She would have questions, a lot of the, and he wasn't quite sure what he was going to tell her.

With his mask still firmly in place, hiding his face, his past, and his scar, he slipped through the door on the floor. He could hear rustling and a tiny clanking from the handcuffs hitting the bars of the cell.

He saw her as he rounded the corner, sitting up and pulling against the handcuffs. He could see the redness on her wrist. In her attempt to break free, she was hurting herself. He dropped the bags and startled her by grabbing her wrist and stopping her movements.

She looked at him wearily, her dark brown eyes connected with his crystal blue eyes. His eyes remained passive as he studied hers. Confusion, fear, and panic were just a few of the emotions that passed through her eyes as she realized that the person who had taken her was the same one responsible for the death of several of her friends.

Her breathing began labored and she began to struggle even more. His grip tightened on her wrist to keep her from hurting herself but that didn't stop her. The harder he gripped her, the harder she struggled.

It was when he felt the warmth of her blood that caused him to snap. "Stop!" he said loudly, his velvet voice filled with authority. "Stop hurting yourself or I will take the handcuffs off and lock you in the cell instead."

Elena stared at the monster in shock. His gazed narrowed at her through his mask. It was so icy cold that it caused a shiver to course through her body. He let go of her wrist and stood up. She didn't move.

He walked over to the small table and opened the drawer on it. He pulled out a small alcohol pad before heading back to her. Using the key he unlocked the hand cuff and gently wiped the cut on her wrist with the pad. She hissed and pulled away quickly once he was done. He discarded the bloodied up alcohol pad before heading towards the opposite wall from where Elena sat.

He picked up some shackles. They wouldn't be as tight and sharp as the handcuffs and were likely to cause less damage. Elena tried to back away as he approached her, but he was fast and strong. In a second he had her ankle secured in the shackle and locked to one of the cell bars.

She whimpered as she struggled against the shackle. She twisted and turned, kicked and struggled. It was useless though; there was no way she could get out. The monster just watched her; fascinated that she was still putting up a fight and intrigued that given her situation, she hadn't shed a tear. Most people in her place would be crying and begging for mercy. Not her. She fought. She had fire, she had spunk, and she was going to change him more than either one of them would think was possible.

* * *

Stefan Salvatore flipped through the documents the police handed him, once again trying to make sense of it. The files were of murders that took place in different states. None of the victims had anything in common from first glance. They weren't all the same age, they didn't have similar appearance, they all weren't one gender, and they didn't really know each other.

It was true that the victims had met before, but if you would have asked them if they knew one of the names on the list that continuous grew they wouldn't remember. The police had to dig deep into the past. 22 years to be exact. All the victims were at the camp the day his brother died. Some were the counselors; some were the kids that pushed him in.

Someone was purposely hunting them down and killing them but why?

"_It doesn't make a lot of sense,"_ Stefan remembered the officer saying. _"These murders are everywhere. Every murder is more gruesome and they are getting out of hand."_

"_I don't understand how I am relevant in this case? I haven't seen or heard from anyone from that camp since the day my brother died."_ Stefan had told him. He was slightly annoyed that they had waited till late to come to him. He wanted to go home and be with his family, not rip open the fresh wounds of his brother's death. 22 years didn't mean anything because it still hurt as much as it would have it had happened yesterday.

"_I understand that sir, and I am truly sorry about the invasion, but we have hit a dead end. There has been no evidence left at any of the crime scenes. No finger prints, no shoe prints, hell there hasn't even been a foreign hair on the bodies. Do you know anyone that would be seeking vengeance for your brother?"_

"_The only person that cared enough to seek vengeance for him is me and I assure you I am not killing them."_

"_What about your parents?"_

"_As if. My parents hated my brother, the scars that were left from the wreck he was in ruined their perfect image. They had a disfigured child and they hated him for it. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."_

The police left him with the files of the murders, hoping that with a few days to process everything, he would think of something, anything.

"Baby," a soft, musical voice called from the doorway. Stefan looked up to see his wife watching him. She was dressed in one of her silky night gowns, her blonde locks were pulled in a messy bun. "You're looking through those files again? Any luck?"

"No," he huffed slamming the file down. "It doesn't make any sense," he hissed as he buried his head in his hands.

Katherine made her way to him, gripping his head and pulling him to look at her. She stroked his cheek gently, comforting him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her on his lap.

"There has to be some logical explanation to why these people are getting killed. Maybe it is just a coincidence that they all went to the camp. Horrible things happen every day all over the world. You shouldn't stress yourself out over this," she soothed, running her hand through his hair.

"I know," he whispered, gentle stroking the side of her waist with his thumb. "I just hate talking about my brother. Losing him was the worst part of my childhood. My parents were horrible. Having him made it bearable. Once he was gone, I was alone. When I was 8 I ran away for a week. I stayed with a friend and hit under his bed. Once his parents were asleep, he would sneak me food. The eventually discovered me and brought me home. My parents didn't even notice I was gone. A WEEK Katherine. An entire fucking week."

Katherine held him close, his head resting on her chest. The sound of her heart beat soothed him. "I have some news for you," Katherine said gentle.

"Oh?" Stefan voice was muffled.

"News that will distract you for a bit, even lift you mood." Stefan looked at her. She was smiling brightly at him.

"What is it baby?" Katherine got off his lap and disappeared out of the room. She reappeared a moment later with something small in her hand. She didn't say anything, she just handed it to him.

Stefan studied the picture, his eyes increasingly growing wide "Is this…?"

"Yep! Congrats daddy, we're going to have a baby," Stefan set the sonogram picture down before pulling Katherine into his embrace. "I love you," she whispered in his ear as she returned his hug.

"I love you too, so much." The rest of the night was spent just the two of them in a tender embrace, the investigation discarded and forgotten on the desk.

* * *

Long chapter (sort of)! So much and so little happened, but some questions got answered. Hope you enjoyed, please review and happy Friday.

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	6. Chapter 5

7 reviews away from 100! Thank you all so much for continuing to read, review, favorite, and/or follow. 100th reviewer will get a shout out next chapter!

This chapter is unedited; I was just so ready to get it to you guys. You've waited long enough :p

* * *

"_What is a neglected child? He is a child not planned for, not wanted. Neglect begins therefore before he is born."_

_-Pearl S. Buck_

* * *

"_My entire life is ruined because you!" Kathleen Salvatore screamed at her husband. Tears of anger spilled down her cheeks. "Don't worry honey!" she mimicked her husband. "I'll pull out. Bullshit! I can't believe I trusted that."_

"_Kathleen, you need to calm down," Giuseppe said tiredly, not bothering to even look up from the paper he was reading as he responded._

"_I'll be happy to calm down! As soon as you give me the money for an abortion," she spat. Giuseppe set his paper down calmly, too calmly. He stood up and stalked over to his wife and gripped her biceps tightly._

"_I will only say this once," he said threateningly. "You will not have an abortion. You will carry this child full term and I will have an heir. If you even drive past the abortion clinic I will ruin you." _

_Kathleen jerked away from him. His hand prints remained on her arms. "You did this one purpose. You knew I didn't want children and you did it on purpose!" she accused._

"_Of course I did. You are an idiot if you ever thought that I wouldn't have an heir. I plan to have two children so be prepared to have another."_

"_And what if I don't?" Kathleen challenged._

_Giuseppe laughed a hard, cruel laugh. "Believe me honey you are replaceable. Do you want to see how fast I can replace you?" Kathleen pressed her lips together tightly. Her eyes narrowed and she nodded her head no._

"_You're a slimy, evil bastard," Kathleen hissed._

"_So I'm told," Giuseppe laughed. He turned and left the room briskly, leaving Kathleen stewing in her rage._

Elena could feel eyes on her. She knew her captor was studying her. She made no move to return his gaze. She could feel his frustration even though they were on opposite sides of the room. She wasn't eating and it was driving him crazy. It had almost been four full days since she had anything to eat. The only way he would be able to get her to eat was to force feed her.

The monster huffed and slammed the book he was reading shut. He tossed it on the pile of books against one of the dirt walls before bending down and checking her restraints. Elena watched him warily. She wasn't sure how long she had been here, the days seemed to blend together, but in all the time she had been here and been conscious, she had yet to see her captor's face. The only thing she had seen was his eyes. They were a deep blue and they showed sheer sadness.

She wondered slightly what his story was. Was he just a man hidden underground away from the world? Was he a recluse? Or was there a bigger reason? Once the monster was satisfied that the restraints were secure, he stood up. He looked at Elena once more before disappearing down one of the tunnels. He needed time to think and he couldn't do it around her. There was something about her that messed with his thoughts and left him confused. He walked aimlessly around the camp for hours thinking about her, the girl currently chained up in the place he had come to know as home.

He thought about killing her and ending his problems. He thought about it a lot. He even tried once or twice when she was sleeping. He stood over her with a knife in his hand contemplating what the easiest way, the quickest and least painful way to do it. He couldn't though. He couldn't even lift the knife a little bit. It was driving him insane. He couldn't stand not knowing why she had this effect on him.

He wanted to figure it out, but it was hard when they have yet to say two words to each other. He didn't blame her though. He killed her friends. One of them was right in front of her. He growled in frustration, running his fingers through his hair violently. He needed answers and he needed them now. He turned and headed back to the cabin that held to entrance to the underground tunnels.

"_Alright Mrs. Salvatore on the count of three I need you to give me one more big push. One, two, three!" The doctor ordered. Kathleen pushed as hard as she could, letting out a scram of pain as she did._

_A piercing cry sounded off the walls of the delivery room as they pulled the small, blue-eyed, baby boy out. "It's a boy!" the doctor said joyfully. A nurse cut the cord and they moved the baby over to check him. Once done, they wrapped him up and brought him to his mother._

"_Would you like to hold your son Mrs. Salvatore?" the nurse asked as she held the small bundle towards Kathleen. _

"_Ugh no, just take it away," she groaned. "And someone please get me some pain meds!" The doctor and nurses shared a look before preparing to move Kathleen and the baby. As they were wheeling the baby out of the room, Giuseppe walked in. "About time you got here," Kathleen snapped._

"_My, my you do look beautiful in your post-birth glow. You look almost motherly," Giuseppe sneered. "Now, where are they taking my son? Shouldn't you be handling him?"_

"_Ha!" Kathleen laughed cruelly. "I didn't even want the damn thing. He was forced upon me. I did my job, I carried him nine months, and I pushed him out of my vagina. You can do the rest."_

"_My dear, unlike you, I have a job so I will not be able to handle him 24/7. You will have to pretend to be a mother eventually."_

"_I'll hire a nanny to take care of your spawn Giuseppe. Now if you wouldn't mind, I need my rest." Kathleen waved him off without another glance. Giuseppe followed the doctor out of the room. _

"_Doctor?" _

"_Miles. Dr. Miles," Dr. Miles introduced as she offered her hand._

"_Pleasure. I take it the birth went well?" Giuseppe inquired._

"_It did. Your son is healthy as far as we can tell. We've taken him up for test but as soon as he is done we can bring him to you."_

"_Please do. And also doctor, if you tell anyone what you heard in that room between my wife and myself, I will personally ruin you. Are we understood?"_

_Dr. Miles nodded quickly. "Yes sir."_

"_Excellent, thank you for your time," Giuseppe strolled away with a smile on his face._

The monster roared in anger as he took in the sight before his eyes. The girl was gone; she had somehow broken free of her restraint. The rusted metal cuffs were lying in a small puddle of blood. From the looks of it, the girl yanked her leg violently, over and over until the rusted restraints gave way. From the amount of blood in the puddle and the trail that led down one of the tunnels, the girl had cut deeply into her skin.

The monster followed the trail of blood until it led him to an exit that hadn't been sealed of yet. He kicked himself for his stupidity. He climbed through the exit and continued to follow the trail of blood until it led him outside. The darkness of the night loomed over everything making it nearly impossible to see. Tonight there was a new moon in the sky leaving things darker than usual.

The monster inwardly cursed. Trusting his instincts he continued to look for the girl. She was smart so she wouldn't go towards the closest cabin or even the second closest and she was too injured to make it towards the last one. The monster froze. He knew exactly where she went and he smiled.

It didn't take him long to arrive at the cabin. When he saw the door slightly cracked he knew that she was in there. It was the one cabin that he never stepped foot in. In the 22 years he had been living here he couldn't find it in himself to enter this one cabin. Until now.

"_Where is my brother?" Giuseppe demanded the second he saw the doctor._

"_I'm sorry Mr. Salvatore; Zach's injuries were too extensive. He died during surgery," the doctor explained._

"_And my son?" he asked._

"_He is stable for now. He has a deep laceration from the corner of his eye to the middle of his cheek and severe 3__rd__ degree burns on the upper part of his body."_

"_Will they scar?" Kathleen asked as she rubbed her 7 month pregnant stomach._

"_I'm afraid so. They are moving him to a private room. I'll let you know when you can see him," the doctor nodded before walking away._

"_Well this is just great!" Giuseppe hissed. "My image is everything. EVERYTHING. When people see me they see a man that means business. What do think they are going to say when they see me and my disfigured son? Zach did this on purpose," he laughed. "Zach has always been jealous of me. He did this on purpose!"_

"_You're a sick man Giuseppe," Kathleen scoffed._

"_Oh I am sick? You are the one that popped un-prescribed anti-depression pills when you were pregnant with Damon! Plus, don't think I don't know how much bourbon you've been drinking while pregnant with Stefan."_

"_If Damon is disfigured for life what are you going to do? Pay a plastic surgeon to operate on our two year old? Or just write him off as not yours?"_

"_I'll do what I need to do to handle this situation. I'll find someone to fix this." Giuseppe turned to walk away._

"_No doctor is going to operate on a toddler because you don't like the way he looked," Kathleen snapped._

"_For the right price they will. I will not have an ugly, disfigured child for my son. Discussion closed Kathleen," Giuseppe growled before storming off._

Elena was sitting on one of the bed, her arms wrapped around her legs holding them tightly to her chest. She had yet to realize the monster was there. He stood by the door, watching her for a moment before walking into the adjoining bathroom. He reemerged with a first aid kid.

"This was the cabin I stayed in as a boy," he said suddenly as he made his way to Elena. Her head snapped up in surprise. Her eyes widened in fear when she saw him. "I'm not going to hurt you, but if I don't tend to that," he pointed towards the still bleeding gash above her ankle. "You are going to die."

Slowly the monster sat down on the edge of the bed. "This was actually the bed I slept in," he gestured to the bed they were sitting on. He began to tend to her wound silently, dabbing an alcohol soaked rag on it. Elena hissed and tried to pull away, but his grip held her steady. Tightly he bandaged the gash tightly before wrapping gauze around it. "It's going to hurt like a bitch for a while, but I have some pain meds to help with that. Now, do you want to walk back or shall I carry you?"

Elena glared at the masked face that stood above her. She hated the mask and she hated the man that was behind it. She wanted to spit at him and tell him that she didn't want to go back and that he could go to hell, but in her desperation to escape she wounded herself badly and if it wasn't treated properly, it would get infected. She barely made it to this cabin; there was no way she could get to the nearest town which was miles away.

The monster smiled before scooping her up into his arms and carrying her out of the cabin. He tried not to think about how small she was, how breakable she felt, and how perfect she fit. Once back in the tunnels, he set her on the mattress on the floor. He didn't bother locking her up, if she tried to escape she wouldn't get very far with her injuries.

For a moment the two were quiet. The monster contemplated on how to get her to talk, to say anything. He was beginning to worry that she was a mute. He looked at her for a moment. She was pale, paler than normal. With the blood loss and the lack of food she looked like she was about to pass out.

"You need to eat," he said. "You've lost a lot of blood. You're going to get sick and you will die." He began to gather stuff to make her something to eat. He started a fire in a small pit grill he had stolen.

"Isn't that your plan?" Elena asked. Her voice was soft, so soft the monster thought he was hearing things at first. "To kill me. I mean you killed my friends and you're keeping be capture. What else do you plan to do with me?" Her voice was filled with venom as she questioned him.

"Killing you was never the plan when I took you," the monster replied as he continued to make some food. "And I'm sorry about your friends. That doesn't justify anything, but I wanted you to know."

"Why did you kill them?" Elena whimpered.

"Honestly? I'm not even sure myself. When I saw all of you all I could see was red. I've been here for 22 years, this is my home, this is my sanctuary, and all of a sudden there is a group of people in my space."

"So naturally killing them was the right answer? Wow." Elena scoffed.

"For me it was. Because that is who I am," the monster growled. "I know you've heard the story. You may not have made the connection, but I know you heard it. I was tortured mentally, emotionally, and even physically as a child. Death was my only escape. For years I survived, hollow, empty, and alone. One day it hit me hard. I wanted revenge on those who wronged me. The kids that teased me, the counselors that ignored me, my parents that hated and neglected me, and anyone that got in my way. They did this too me."

Elena used every ounce of strength she had to stand up and limp over to him. Once she was right in front of him, she slapped him, hard enough to make his mask fly off. The ugly truth was right in front of her face, the scar that caused him problems all his life. When Elena looked at it she didn't cringe in disgust like so many others.

"You feel hollow, empty, and alone because you've made yourself hollow and empty and you chose to be alone. This is because of you, because you couldn't let it go. Faking your death, even as a child _Damon_ was a coward move, you could have done so many other things, but you ran scared, you stewed in your anger, and you decided that revenge was your only way to get closure. Your parents were horrible, the kids at camp were horrible, and the counselors were horrible. You were dealt a shitty hand and you chose the wrong way to deal with it. Killing _my_ friends because we were in your "safe place" is complete and utter bullshit. You might as well kill me because I will _never_ forgive you. Whatever your reason is to keep me, whatever sick fantasy you concocted in your head will never play out. You were treated like you were unlovable by so many when you were a child and that was wrong. But no you are treated unlovable because you've made yourself into a monster so don't give me anymore of your bullshit excuses."

Elena limped back to the mattress and plopped down angrily. Damon stood there for a minute; the sting of her words flooded his veins. He tried to open his mouth, but nothing came out. There was nothing he could say because he knew that she was right. He had made himself into a monster. He could blame his parents or the kids that bullied him all he wanted, but at the end of the day, he had put himself in the situation he was in. Damon sighed as he turned back to finish fixing food. Nothing else was said between the two.

* * *

I just finished summer classes and all these ideas for chapters started pouring out of my head. Hooray! I hope you enjoyed this chapter; it has a lot of movement, Damon and Elena finally communicating, Elena seeing his face, and finally actually referring to 'the monster' as his name!

Everyone please drop a comment in the review box, it will be greatly appreciated. **Also, I have the beginning of a new story in the works and I would like a few opinions on it before I publish it. If anyone is interested let me know in a review or PM and I will send you the first chapter when it is done.**

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	7. Chapter 6

This chapter is dedicated to MelissaSomerhalder for being the 100th reviewer. If you haven't checked out her story _Giving In_, you definitely should.

This chapter is unedited.

* * *

"We all go a little mad sometimes."

-Norman Bates, _Psycho_

* * *

"Is that it?" Mason scoffed as he looked at the room full of people. "_That_ is all you're going to do? Just sit around and wait until hopefully someone calls or you get a lead?"

"There isn't much else we can do Mason," Richard Lockwood tried to explain to his son.

Disbelief colored Mason's pale face. It was like he was talking to a brick wall. "We could go search the camp! Bring more dogs this time; drain the lake, and so much more!"

"We've searched that entire camp from top to bottom with three of the best trained police dogs and an entire police force as well as several people from the community. There were almost 50 people searching those grounds and not one of them found a single thing. Your cars were gone, the bodies were gone, and the house was completely clean! There were no foot prints, no tire tracks, and no flags marking trails. There was nothing there Mason; it doesn't even look like you stayed there." Richard pinched the bridge of his nose. The last two months had been extremely tense for everyone as they searched for any lead to explain the disappearance of 6 young college students.

"Are you calling me a liar dad? Do you think I made this shit up? I watched Brady literally get sliced in half right in front of me. Charlotte and Luka were impaled together by a machete. Stevie was cut into pieces and God only knows what happened to Jules!" Mason cried is distress. "This man needs to be brought to justice."

Richard sighed and looked at the people that filled the room. There were detectives, police officers, and several members of the founding families of Mystic Falls, including Miranda and Grayson Gilbert. His eyes connected with Grayson's and he knew that they were having the same thought.

"Mason," Richard sighed as he sat next to his son on one of the coaches in the room. Gently he placed a comforting hand on Mason's hunched over, slightly trembling, back. "I didn't want to be the one to say this, but it's been two and a half months. I believe you when you say that your friends were murdered. You say that this man killed them in cold blood, so what makes you think he left Elena alive?"

Mason's head snapped up quickly. He stood up, shaking his father's hand off of him. "What are you trying to say father?" Mason all but spat.

"Mason, you need to consider the possibility that Elena is dead. I mean according to Elena, Stevie was cut into pieces, Brady was sliced in two, and Charlotte and Luka were impaled together with a machete. A man who can perform horrific murders like those doesn't strike me as someone who has a soft spot, as someone who lets anyone live. You and Anna were luck to make it out alive, but I'm afraid that there is no chance of finding anyone else alive at that camp."

"So what? You're just going to give up?" Mason looked from his father to Elena's parents, hoping to get some back up. Miranda and Grayson both wore looks of defeat, like they had already given up finding their daughter. "No! Fuck that and fuck all of you," he hissed before storming outside. No one moved to follow him. They knew their efforts would be pointless. Mason was grieving; he was still in the denial part of the five stages of grief. Soon he would experience the anger, the bargaining, and the depression before he would finally accept it. Accept that Elena Gilbert was dead.

* * *

Anna felt like a horrible person. She lied. She purposely lied that fateful night two months ago because she was scared and she wanted to leave. Every day she woke up consumed in guilt and she went to be consumed in guilt. Every day she would convince herself that she would finally tell the truth, to give hope to those who have long since abandoned it and every day as soon as she prepared to face her lie, she would convince herself that tomorrow would be the better day.

It would be considered a good night if she didn't cry herself to sleep and a great night if she didn't have nightmares about the man in the hockey mask. The images of what he did to her friends will always be burned in her mind. She needed comfort, but how can you get comfort after experiencing something like that?

The answer popped into her head when she woke up at 5 this morning, drenched in sweat from yet another nightmare. This one was different. Normally in her nightmares, the masked man would chase her all throughout the camp. She would run and run and run and finally, after what seemed like hours, she would see a road in the distance. She continued to run and right when she is about to reach her freedom the masked man would grab her. He would raise his life claiming machete, prepared to swing, and right as it flew down, she would wake up. In the dream that she had tonight, instead of swinging the machete at her, the masked man dropped the machete next to her before pulling of the masked. The face under the mask wasn't the face she had concocted in her mind, but instead it was Elena.

Anna woke up and rushed to the bathroom in the blink of an eye. She emptied the little contents she had in her stomach before lying on the bathroom floor. It was then she knew that she couldn't just ignore the lie or put it off anymore.

Which is why as of five minutes ago, Anna officially entered the town of Mystic Falls. The town was small so it didn't take long to find the mayors house. "Mason?" she called as she stepped out of her car eyeing the hunched over figure in the back of one of the parked trucks.

"Anna?" His eyebrows knitted together in confusion as he studied Anna. She was skinny, too skinny, and extremely pale which told him that she, too, was struggling as much as he was. After they were discharged from the hospital two months ago, they each went their separate ways without so much as a glance. "What are you doing here?"

Anna froze for a moment, not sure how to begin this conversation. Mason's blood shot eyes watched her as she fidgeted anxiously. "I'm sorry," she finally expressed after a moment. "I lied."

"You lied about what?"

"When we arrived back after the lake house, after that man killed Brady, when I said that we thought Elena was with you. I lied. I knew she wasn't with you because I saw her."

Mason was up and in front of Anna in a second. His eyes were slightly narrowed, partially in confusion, partially in anger. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.

Anna took a deep breath; her heart was hammering hard in her chest. Her palms were sweaty and shaking. "When I was running, I saw her. She tripped down a hill and hit her head. I was going to help her, but then I saw _him_. She stood over her, watching her and contemplating what he was going to do. I saw him bend down and slightly stroke her cheek. He stood up and put the machete in his belt before picking her up. He disappeared into the darkness with her. I was too scared to do anything, too scared to go after him so I ran like hell. I didn't say anything when Jules said she was probably in one of the cabins, because I knew if I told you that she was still alive and that the masked man had her that you would go after her and I was so scared and I just wanted to leave."

Multiple emotions appeared on Mason's face. Anger that Anna had lied, hurt and betrayal that she was willing to leave Elena in the grasp of a monster, fear that she had waited too long to come forward with this information and that they were too late, hope that she might still be alive, and determination that he would do any and everything in his power to get her back.

Mason grabbed Anna's wrist and dragged her into the house where everyone was starting to pack up. Richard was the first to notice them. "What's going on?" his eyes went back and forth between his son and Anna.

"Tell them," he hissed, slightly shoving her forward. As Anna recalled what she had told to Mason, the same emotions that appeared on his face appeared on the faces of everyone in the room. Once she was done, everyone remained silent.

"What makes you think Elena is still alive?" Richard broke the silence with his question. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"This man is a monster," Anna explained. "He did not hesitate to dismember Stevie, to slice Brady in half, and to shove a machete through Charlotte and Luka. He did it and he didn't think twice about it, but when he saw Elena lying there, easily able to be killed, he just studied her."

"Well what makes you think he didn't take her to be tortured?" Richard threw at her. It wasn't that he didn't want to find Elena; it was that he didn't want to give everyone, including his son, false hope.

"I thought of that too," Anna explained. "But then I thought about how quick and precise this guy was. He knew the forest amazingly well, as if he had been there his entire life. He was big, strong, and got around quietly. He managed to bring Elena to where ever he was hiding and still catch up to us at the lake house."

"What's your point?" Richard huffed in annoyance.

"My point is that after Elena found Stevie's arm and a puddle of blood, she took off towards the lake house. She told us that the man was in the clearing when she found the arm and that he tried to kill her, but she got away, which is impossible considering how fast he was. He let her go."

"That's quite a theory you have and if you would have come to use two months ago, we might have had a chance," Richard sighed. "But you waited two entire months, giving this man plenty of time to either disappear with Elena, or kill her, hide her body, and disappear. I do admit that it is the first piece of information we've gotten in several weeks, but it isn't up to me to decide if I want to continue this investigation. It's up to them," he nodded towards Elena's parents.

"I would love nothing more than to get my baby back," Miranda whispered gruffly. "I just want to hold her in my arms and tell her that I love her and I will never let anything bad happen to her again, but every day for the past two months I've slowly began to accept that she is gone forever. I don't want to go on some wild goose chase only to come up short handed and have to face accepting my daughter's death all over again. So, how sure are you that she is still alive?"

"I should have come to you sooner and I can't express to you how sorry I am that I didn't. But I'm here now and I am almost 100 percent positive that Elena is still alive and in that camp somewhere. I know most of you think that even if he did keep her alive, he would have left the camp, but he knew his way around those woods extremely well. It was clear that he'd been there for a while and I doubt he would pack up and leave. He is living somewhere in that camp, he hid the bodies somewhere in that camp, and Elena is somewhere in that camp. _Alive."_

For the first time in weeks Miranda Gilbert let out a breath of relief and smiled a real smile. She looked at her husband. He nodded at her and squeezed her hand to show that he was behind her all the way. "Then I want to continue the investigation."

"Alright," Richard sighed after a moment. "But if we do this, I want to really do this. Instead of 50 people looking for her, I want 50,000 people looking for her. We will post posters, air new broad cast. I want the entire world feeling like it is their daughter missing. If this man is still at the camp with her, we will find them. If he is on the run, someone will recognize them. It isn't going to be easy. We have a lot of sleepless nights ahead of us, so let's get started."

* * *

Stefan hated his parents. Over the years he had managed to bury that hate, but it began to resurface the moment he purchased the plane ticket to Fells Church. As he was handed the keys to his rental car, the hate for his parents overwhelmed him. This was it. He was about to see his parents for the first time in 13 years. He didn't give them any warning. Giving them warning would have just given them the opportunity to make up a lie and leave town to avoid him and the imminent conversation that was bound to happen at one point.

He kept his mind busy as he drove closer to his own personal hell. Nothing had changed since he was last here. George O'Malley, a native of Brooklyn, Harry Richards, and Christopher Ivory were still sitting in front of Dale's Barber shop. When Stefan was littler, every time he got a haircut at Dale's, George would give him a sucker for "being a trooper" is what he called it. Stefan used to love to hear George talk. His accent entertained him.

Mary Sue Roger's Flower shop was still open and thriving. Mary Sue was known for making the most colorful and creative flower arrangements in all of Virginia. Although the years have taken a toll on her, she still stood in front of the flower shop greeting any and every one that walked past. She made the arrangement for the funeral that they had for Damon. He remembered how the flowers almost looked like they, themselves, were actually crying. After the funeral, Mary Sue took one of the black roses from the arrangement and handed it to Stefan. She kissed him on the forehead and told him it would be alright. He believed her. It was the first bit of comfort that he had felt since his brother disappeared into the water.

The equipment at the park he used to play at looked the same except for a paint job that was just now beginning to crack. The elementary school had the same essence of innocents when you drove past it.

These people, these places, they made his childhood bearable. They were the parents he wished he had. They gave him comfort, they built him up when he was knocked down, and they saved him from being destroyed by his parents.

The boarding house looked exactly the same. The grass was freshly cut; the flowers seemed to thrive in the sun, and the same workers that he had grown up around were still busy doing their jobs to keep the huge house in perfect condition.

Stefan hesitated for a moment before getting out of the car and heading towards the giant brown door that divided him from hell. He rang the doorbell and waited, all the while thinking that it wasn't too late, that he could back out now.

Those thoughts came to an abrupt halt when the familiar click of the locked being turned rang through his ears. Slowly, the door knob turned. The door swung open, revealing a familiar and friendly face. For a moment the two just stood there, staring at each other.

"Stefan?" Rose Marie said shock clearly etched on her face.

"Rose Marie," Stefan smiled.

"I can't believe you are here," she said after they hugged. "What's it been, 13 years?"

"Give or take," Stefan nodded. "I've missed you," he said genuinely. "You are probably one of the only people I've missed throughout the years."

Rose Marie smiled rightly. "I've missed you too Stefan," she said sincerely before stepping to the side and letting him in. "Your father is in the study, your mother is entertaining some friends in the garden."

"I need to talk to them both. Is there any way you can get my mother to the study?" Stefan looked at Rose Marie hopefully. He wanted to get this over and done with so he could leave this place and return to Katherine.

"Yeah, no problem. Shall I tell her it's you?" Stefan pondered it a moment before he nodded his head.

"No, I want her to be surprised," Stefan laughed. Rose nodded in understanding. As she headed out to the garden, Stefan headed towards the study. He knocked once, opening the door when he heard a gruff 'come in.'

"What is it?" Giuseppe asked in annoyance without looking up from his work.

"Hello father," Stefan said from the doorway. Giuseppe's head snapped up quickly. His eyes widened in shock as he took in his son.

"Stefan?" he questioned quietly, as if he was afraid it was all a mirage. Slowly, he placed the file he was working on down and stood up. Stefan made his way to the desk where his father was. "I'd never thought I'd see you again," Giuseppe admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at the ground.

"I hoped I would never see you again, but desperate times," Stefan said coldly. For a moment Giuseppe looked stunned, his mind flashing back to a time when Stefan was a little boy with a bright smile, curious eyes, and loving to any and every one. Regret weighted heavily on Giuseppe, regret that it was his wife and himself that destroyed the once loving little boy.

Before Giuseppe could reply, Kathleen waltzed in sighing dramatically. "What did you need your highness?" She froze instantly when she finally looked up to see who was in the room with Giuseppe. "Stefan?" she gasped. "Oh baby!" she cried rushing towards him. Stefan help out his hand and stepped back, preventing her motions.

"Don't," he snapped. "I'm not here to visit; I'm not here because I missed you. I am here because I have to be. So drop the charade. Stop pretending like you missed me. I've been gone for 13 years, you could have easily hired an expensive private investigator to find me if you really missed me. Instead you stayed here, drinking and pretending to be perfect. I'm not mad that you didn't try to find me, I am actually extremely grateful. I wouldn't be where I am today if you would have shown up and complicated things. I wouldn't be the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, happily married, and expecting my first child. I am at an amazing place in my life, no thanks to you, so please forgo the delusion that I am here because I need you or miss you." Stefan's eyes narrowed at his mother and father, his stance was unwavering.

"If you're not here because you missed us or because you want to be, then why are you here?" Giuseppe cleared his throat and shifted from one foot to the other.

"We need to talk. About Damon."

* * *

Hey guys! Hope you've enjoyed chapter six. For those of you who expressed interest in my new story, I am still working on it (along with another story idea) but I probably will not post either story until one of my stories in progress is completed.

As always please review (:

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